1998 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel Cortina

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 91 points

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  4/8/2022 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points

  Zinfandel source mainly from the Chen's Vineyard, planted in 1972. Fermented and macerated for a week in open-top fermentors. Aged for 15 months in predominantly French oak barrels (10-15% new). 14,5% alcohol.
  
  Rather translucent and somewhat evolved dark maroon color. Dark-toned and still surprisingly fresh nose with bright aromas of brambly dark berries, some surprising vegetal notes of beetroot, a little bit of ripe black raspberry, light grassy green nuances, a hint of inky character, a touch of savory wood spice and a whiff of boozy alcohol. The wine is ripe, juicy and lively on the palate with a quite full body and bright flavors of ripe black raspberries, some sweet-yet-vegetal notes of roasted beetroot, a little bit of sweet black cherry, light pruney nuances, a hint of toasty wood spice and a touch of bramble. The wine is wonderfully high in acidity and the medium-plus tannins bring some welcome sense of firmness and grip to the wine. The finish is rich and juicy with some alcohol warmth and a little bit of tannic grip along with a long aftertaste of ripe black raspberries and brambly red berries, some vegetal notes of beet root, light sweet nuances of cherry marmalade, a little bit of evolved pruney character and a leafy hint of herbaceous greenness.
  
  A very nice, bright and balanced Zinfandel that is both surprisingly youthful for its age and wonderfully fresh and structured for a Zinfandel. Although the wine shows some obvious ripeness and alcohol warmth, the wine doesn't suffer from the typical Zinfandel pitfalls - jammy fruit, soft structure and boozy alcohol - but instead comes across at times even surprisingly fresh and herbaceous for the variety. I guess what you can taste here is the uneven ripening typical of Zinfandel - some grapes might be turning already overripe and some are still quite underripe while the majority of fruit is at perfect ripeness. At least this wine tastes like it combines all those qualities surprisingly well. It takes a bit of time to get accustomed to the combination of very ripe fruit and herbaceous, leafy elements, but once you get past this dichotomy, this is a pretty lovely example of aged Zinfandel. It might continue to improve for some years more, but as it is drinking so wonderfully now, I think no further cellaring is necessary. A great pucrhase at 24€.

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  11/9/2002 - buckeye76 wrote: 92 Points

  RICH BLACKBERRY FRUIT IN THE NOSE AND FLAVOR WITH HINTS OF RASPBERRIES AND SPICE. MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH.

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  7/1/2001 - OneLastSyrah wrote:

  ($25) Blackberry fruit and toasty bread nose. Dense, ripe and sweet with some coffee flavors in the mid-palate. The finish is hot and a bit unpleasant from some obtrusive alcohol. Not bad, but far from great.

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